Sarah Vowell quotes:

Being a nerd, which is to say going too far and caring too much about a subject, is the best way to make friends I know. permalink Sarah Vowell - The Partly Cloudy Patriot (2003)

Buffy's high school was built on top of a vortex of evil, the Hellmouth. And whose wasn't? permalink Sarah Vowell - The Partly Cloudy Patriot (2003)

Except for the people who were there that one day they discovered the polio vaccine, being part of history is rarely a good idea. History is one war after another with a bunch of murders and natural disasters in between. permalink Sarah Vowell - Assassination Vacation (2005)

Going to Ford's Theatre to watch the play is like going to Hooters for the food. permalink Sarah Vowell - Assassination Vacation (2005)

I fear that the consumer who buys a Confederate flag coffee cup, which she will then put on her American flag place mat, is the sort of sophisticated thinker who is open-minded enough that she is capable of hating blacks and Arabs at the same time. permalink Sarah Vowell - Assassination Vacation (2005)

I understand why other people would want to stay in B&Bs. They're pretty. They're personal. They're "quaint," a polite way of saying "no TV." They are "romantic," i.e., every object large enough for a flower to be printed on it is going to have a flower printed on it. They're "cozy," meaning that a guest has to keep her belongings on the floor because every conceivable flat surface is covered in knickknacks, except for the one knickknack she longs for, a remote control. permalink Sarah Vowell - Assassination Vacation (2005)

In these fast and fickle times, it's nice to know that there are some things you can always count on: the enduring brilliance of the last page of The Great Gatsby; the near-religious harmonies of the Beach Boys' "California Girls"; and the lifelong friendship of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. permalink Sarah Vowell - The Partly Cloudy Patriot (2003)

Just the other day, I was in my neighborhood Starbucks, waiting for the post office to open. I was enjoying a chocolatey cafe mocha when it occurred to me that to drink a mocha is to gulp down the entire history of the New World. From the Spanish exportation of Aztec cacao, and the Dutch invention of the chemical process for making cocoa, on down to the capitalist empire of Hershey, Pennsylvania, and the lifestyle marketing of Seattle's Starbucks, the modern mocha is a bittersweet concoction of imperialism, genocide, invention, and consumerism served with whipped cream on top. No wonder it costs so much. permalink Sarah Vowell - The Partly Cloudy Patriot (2003)

Nowadays, ever since the attack on the Pentagon in 2001, the capital has been clamped down. How is this manifested? Giant planters blocking government buildings, giant planters barricading every other street. Theoretically, the concrete flowerpots are solid enough to fend off a truck bomb. And yet the effect is ridiculous, as if we believe we can protect ourselves from suicide bombers by hiding behind blooming pots of marigolds, flowers whose main defensive property is repelling rabbits. permalink Sarah Vowell - Assassination Vacation (2005)

The true American patriot is by definition skeptical of the government. permalink Sarah Vowell - The Partly Cloudy Patriot (2003)

You know you've reached a new plateau of group mediocrity when even a Canadian is alarmed by your lack of individuality. permalink Sarah Vowell - Assassination Vacation (2005)

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